Healthy and Delicious Cooking.

Category Archives: Turkey

Turkey and Spinach Stuffed Shells (serves 4)
Inspired by a recipe found here.

Italian food is tasty, comforting, and very filling. However, it is not always filled with as much nutritious content as it could be. This recipe puts a spin on the classic cheesy, saucy stuffed shell that is a staple in Italian cuisine. With lean ground turkey and spinach adding protein and flavor, these stuffed shells are sure to leave you not feeling guilty about dishing up seconds. What more could you ask for?

Ingredients:

1 jar marinara sauce

3/4 lbs. ground turkey

1 package frozen spinach

15 oz container of reduced-fat ricotta cheese

4 oz mozzarella cheese (shredded)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tbsp fresh basil (minced)

1 box jumbo shell pasta

Cook the pasta according to directions on the box. Rinse and put in cold water. Saute the ground turkey until cooked (about 5-10 minutes) and season with salt and pepper.

Thaw the spinach and preheat the oven to 350F. Pour a layer of marina into the bottom of a baking dish. Mix ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and egg until well combined. Add salt and pepper, basil and parsley and mix well. Add ground turkey and spinach to mixture, mix well.

Fill each shell with a few tablespoons of filling and place in baking dish. Cover your shells with a layer of marinara and cover the baking dish with foil.

Bake at 350F until bubbling at the edges (about 30-40 minutes). Enjoy!

Like this:

Turkey and Yam Spicy Tacos (serves 6-8)
Inspired by a recipe found here.

I swear, Mexican food is an incredible thing. It is agreed among myself and Bryan that our most successful meals are those that incorporate Mexican flavors. This one is no exception. A spicy blend of herbs and spices creates a flavorful base for the turkey. The yams mixed into the turkey creates a subtle sweetness that balances the spiciness of the meat. It is a truly delicious, though unusual, combination.

Ingredients:

1 yam, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

1 tsp. minced garlic

A handful of jalapeno pepper slices, minced

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup salsa

16 small, warm corn tortillas

Put the diced yam in a microwave-safe bowl; cook in the microwave until cooked through and fork-tender, stirring once, 5 to 7 minutes.

Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and place over medium heat; cook and stir the turkey until crumbled and evenly brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir the onion, garlic, and jalapeno pepper into the turkey and continue cooking until the onions begin to caramelize, 7 to 10 minutes. Season with the chili powder, cumin, Cajun seasoning, and salt. Pour the salsa over everything; fold the sweet potatoes into the mixture.

Allow the mixture to cook until the excess moisture evaporates. Serve with the warm tortillas, as well with any of your favorite taco fixins.

Imagine coming home after a long day of work, and dinner is already hot and ready, with it’s aroma filling the house. This is the joy of the crock pot. I was recently given one as a housewarming gift, and I put it to good use with a chili recipe. There really was no doubt in my mind that chili would be the first thing I would make with it. This is a delicous and hearty 3 bean chili that I’m enjoying for days after making it.

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey(you can sub ground chicken)

1 small onion, chopped

1 (4 1/2 ounce) can chopped chilies, drained

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can black beans, undrained

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chickpeas, undrained

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons chili powder

Shredded cheddar cheese to taste

Cook turkey and onion in a medium frying pan. Drain off fat when done, and put into crock pot. Add in the rest of the ingredients, except for the cheese and cook on high for 8 hours. Serve topped with shredded cheddar.

After recently making the coconut flour tortillas, which can be found here, I wanted to try using it to make a pizza. I didn’t want to make just any pizza, however, I wanted to make the kind of pizza that they make tv shows about. With Ashley’s love of mexican food, I looked over our last few mexican recipes and just kind of mashed up a bunch of the common ingredients, and the end result was pretty great. I was also very happy with the way that the crust came out. I made it sicilian style, but I think making a traditional circular pizza would work just as well.

For the crust I just took the tortilla recipe 4 times over and then poured it evenly in a small cookie sheet. Based on the size of your sheet you may need to add or take away a batch or two of the recipe. Basically you want to cover the whole pan evenly with about an 1/8 inch of batter. I baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, and it came out just like a pizza crust.

Pizza Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 chopped green pepper

1 can green chiles

1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo sauce (blended or pureed)

7 ounces sour cream

8 ounces mexican cheese blend

6 slices of jarred jalepeno (the kind for topping nachos)

1/4 cup chopped tomato

3 teaspoons taco seasoning

1 teaspoon chili powder

Cook the ground turkey in a pan with the green pepper and onion mixed in. Drain, and then return to pan, adding in green chiles.

Mix the sour cream with the chipotle and cover the crust as you would a pizza sauce. Cover with the ground turkey mixture, and then with the cheese. Sprinkle tomato bits over the top, and arrange the jalepeno slices evenly. Bake for 25 minutes at 250 degrees and enjoy.

I stumbled upon this gem of a recipe exactly when I needed it– while I was craving some not-so-good-for-you Chinese take-out. I never heard of an Asian meatball before. Let me tell you, it’s delicious. The meatballs don’t really need any extra sauce. I would recommend cutting the sauce recipe in half unless you’d like a lot of extras. The meatballs themselves are moist, tender, and full of flavor.

Spaghetti squash is from this recipe, and meatballs are inspired by this recipe.

I saw the recipe for spaghetti squash “spaghetti” awhile ago on a weightlifting forum. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had spaghetti, seeing as it doesn’t exactly fit in with healthy eating. This is a pretty unique, and great substitute that I really enjoyed. I can see myself using this spaghetti squash for many other recipe ideas in the future. It’s definitely something that can be experimented with. I was also very happy with the meatball recipe. I plan on using some Ezekiel bread (a healthy sprouted grain bread that puts all standard supposedly healthy “whole grain” breads to shame) to make meatball sandwiches with the leftovers, which is also a dish that I absolutely love but haven’t been able to have in awhile.

Spaghetti squash ingredients

1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise with seeds and strands removed

Tomato sauce of choice (I used Classico brand tomato and basil which is much healthier than many other brands)

Simply place both halves of the squash face down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. When done use a fork and scrape the inside, you’ll be amazed how the little strands instantly come out like spaghetti. It’s very simple to make. Cover with spaghetti sauce, and if you’re like me, lots of Parmesan cheese, and enjoy.

I’ve never had stuffed peppers before. While searching for recipes for the week, I decided that it was time to change this fact. This is a really simple and filling recipe that can be made with very few ingredients. It’s great for a cheap meal. After stuffing the peppers I had some extra filling that I decided to put on top of some broccoli that I threw into a casserolle dish next to the peppers. It turned out pretty well, but I would suggest boiling the broccoli first. The peppers themselves were delicious, and my addition of cheese to the recipe turned out very well.

Ingredients

2 large green peppers

1/2 pound ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided

1 cup cooked rice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

8 Ounces cheddar cheese

Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds. Place peppers in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook for 3 minutes. Drain and immediately place in ice water; invert on paper towels.

In a small skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 cup tomato sauce, rice, half of the cheese, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Spoon into peppers.

Place in an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Drizzle with remaining tomato sauce and then sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until peppers are tender.